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"Be nicer to your customers than your competition"- Richard Reed.
On Friday, I had a first-hand experience of customer care done badly.
And it started in a queue at a local bank. In an effort to tackle their customer build-up, one of the major banking chains recently introduced a Queue Management System (QMS). I guess on paper it seemed like a good idea, but in all things managed, the devil is in the details.
According to qminder.com, "Queue Management is a set of principles aimed at controlling customer flow and streamlining the queuing experience". For success however, it needs to be a continuous process and properly executed, it can increase customer engagement, sales, and customer loyalty. However, if poorly done, it creates customer anxiety and may result in unfairness in the system.
Observed Missteps:
🙈 Uninformed customers: People walked in asking about different transactions - and were simply referred to the self-service kiosk;
🙈 No clear information as to wait times: Chairs were provided, but without additional information, people just twiddled their thumbs and fidgeted - which added to their anxiety as to their perceived wait time;
🙈 Improper technology match: While QMS has been adopted in many industries, "one size does not fit all". In the banking sector especially, there has been increased use of apps that allow for data farming by banks but also allows the customer to play an active role in the process.
QMS.
What resulted on Friday was confused, disgruntled and unhappy people - customers and staff alike.
Hopefully, they'll get it right 🤔and soon.
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